Publication: Criminal Justice : Security and Justice Thematic Paper
Loading...
Files in English
337 downloads
Published
2011
ISSN
Date
2012-06-26
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Finds fragile states lack the capacity to effectively prevent crime, enforce laws, or peacefully resolve disputes across the whole of their territories. State institutions--particularly police and courts--may be difficult for communities to access due to their minimal presence or weak capabilities, due to unfamiliar or poorly understood legal codes and procedures (possibly complicated by linguistic or cultural differences), or due to ethnic, religious, or gender bias. State criminal justice institutions frequently become a primary instrument for the government and elites to maintain power and control through the perpetration of injustice, as has happened in Afghanistan, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, Zimbabwe, and Myanmar. Politicization of the police, judiciary, and correctional facilities has led to arbitrariness, discrimination, and corruption. Interventions to strengthen performance of local law enforcement and justice institutions should include mediation and conflict resolution as well as property and family dispute resolution. To counter organized and cross-border crime and violence, multisectoral interventions with longer-time commitments are required addressing at-risk youth and promoting local accountability.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Sherman, Jake. 2011. Criminal Justice : Security and Justice Thematic Paper. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9074 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Public Security, Criminal Justice, and Reforming the Security Sector : Security and Justice Thematic Paper(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2011)Discusses prioritization of governance, the rule of law, and security sector reform (SSR). A policy framework identifies the specific characteristics of post-conflict operations, with emphasis on the need to rebuild trust between the state and its people. Demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration (DDR) programs provide an effective transition strategy, but when their main thrust is to create civilian jobs, results have usually been disappointing.The security sector reform (SSR) supplies support needed for the success of DDR programs, because the legitimacy of a reformed security sector means that the security forces reflect the whole country and contributes to building confidence.The implications for the rule of law and criminal justice point to the need for transparent processes, including quasi-judiciary mechanisms, such as truth and reconciliation commissions.Examples are drawn from Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where SSR efforts have been extensive and are ongoing, as well as from Afghanistan, Bosnia, East Timor, Rwanda, Sudan, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.Publication Transitional Justice, Security, and Development : Security and Justice Thematic Paper(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2011)Studies "transitional justice" which means measures that redress the legacies of massive serious crimes under international law. The core elements that minimally belong in a transitional justice policy include: prosecutions, truth-telling measures, reparations for victims, memorialization efforts, local justice initiatives, and some initiatives tending toward institutional reform, particularly the vetting of security sector personnel. Contrary to misconceptions, particularly on the part of non-experts, transitional justice is neither past-oriented, nor of concern to victims alone; rather, to the extent that it achieves any of its goals, it does so in virtue of its potential to affirm general but basic norms-therein its potential contributions to both security and development. The perception that transitional justice measures hamper development and reconstruction, or that transitional justice is not urgent in the aftermath of the cessation of conflict, is false. The WDR fails to emphasize four areas that deserve recognition of their roles: (1) democracy and the rule of law; (2) confidence-building and legitimacy; (3) trust; and (4) the limits of institutional reform.Publication Improving Security in Violent Conflict Settings : Security and Justice Thematic Paper(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2011)Acknowledges that security--both physical security and national security--needs to be addressed in contexts ranging from pre-conflict, conflict, to post-conflict, and in both national and local units. Solutions to stemming violence do not follow linear or sequential implementation. Capacity building requires security sector reform, peacebuilding, parliamentary oversight, civil society involvement, financial management, and transitional justice measures. The return of counterinsurgencies in rogue states or rebellions of secessionist movements has focused aid donors on the legitimacy of such groups. In countries like Colombia where disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programs were left incomplete, gang violence has escalated, and in countries like El Salvador violence has mutated across generations into transnational gangs. DDR, a popular set of activities to fund, has the potential to achieve security objectives and social welfare, but requires confidence in the government, community acceptance, a sufficiently strong economy, integration of ex-combatants into new armed forces or national service corps, and community involvement.Publication Criminal Justice(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-11-09)Strengthening the rule of law is widely regarded among traditional donors, multilateral institutions, and a growing number of middle income and fragile states as a necessary precondition for sustainable peace, poverty alleviation, and development. Crime and violence deter investment and lower employment, undermine social institutions, and divert resources through direct and indirect costs, all of which hinder development. It is likely to disproportionately affect poor and marginalized populations by limiting access to basic services. The formal criminal justice system is seen in many environments as failing to deliver justice. Most states experiencing fragility do not have the capacity to effectively prevent crime, enforce laws, or peacefully resolve disputes across the whole of their territories. There is another powerful deterrent for communities to seek redress through state criminal justice institutions: they are frequently a primary instrument for the government and elites to maintain power and control through the perpetration of injustice. The informal system, however, is alone insufficient to handle the pressing justice requirements of fragile states, not least for preventing and responding to inter-communal conflict, to serious organized and cross-border crime, and to public corruption and other 'white collar' crime.Publication WDR Gender Background Paper(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2011)Synthesizes existing discourse and practices on the relevance of and integration of gender perspectives in conflict, development, and fragility policies and programming. Current literature shows a lack of rigorous analysis and documentation of innovative ongoing practices that tackle issues of inclusion and protection for women in conflict situations. Levels of gender inequality and domestic violence indicate the likelihood of a state's propensity for civil unrest and violence, as well as for fragility. Advocacy, awareness raising, and strategies for combating sexual violence need to (1) look at socio-cultural factors, (2) insert condemnation of such action in peace agreements, and (3) deal with the trauma from such violence and discriminatory treatment. Women need to be included in key processes during transition periods and in representation and governance, and women's rights needs to be integrated into decision making and capacity building. International institutions need to shape their responses and current practices to address women's protection and participation needs and include gender analysis more broadly in tackling fragile states and societies.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-01-09)Note: Chart 1.2.B has been updated on January 18, 2024. Chart 2.2.3 B has been updated on January 14, 2024. Global growth is expected to slow further this year, reflecting the lagged and ongoing effects of tight monetary policy to rein in inflation, restrictive credit conditions, and anemic global trade and investment. Downside risks include an escalation of the recent conflict in the Middle East, financial stress, persistent inflation, weaker-than-expected activity in China, trade fragmentation, and climate-related disasters. Against this backdrop, policy makers face enormous challenges. In emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), commodity exporters face the enduring challenges posed by fiscal policy procyclicality and volatility, which highlight the need for robust fiscal frameworks. Across EMDEs, previous episodes of investment growth acceleration underscore the critical importance of macroeconomic and structural policies and an enabling institutional environment in bolstering investment and long-term growth. At the global level, cooperation needs to be strengthened to provide debt relief, facilitate trade integration, tackle climate change, and alleviate food insecurity.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Labor Market Transitions and Social Security in Colombia(2011-05-01)This paper quantifies the magnitude of transitions across occupational categories in Colombia, a country with high unemployment and informality but quickly increasing its social security coverage for health. The analysis makes use of a panel of households between 2008 and 2009, representative of the main metropolitan areas in the country. Results confirm previous evidence found in Colombia and elsewhere in the region that transitions between occupations are large and asymmetric: they are disproportionally more likely to happen from formal to informal occupations than vice versa. The paper finds for the first time that such transitions are also different for salaried workers compared with the self-employed, as well as by poverty status of the worker. Salaried workers are more likely to transition first into other salaried jobs, while self-employed are more likely to transition into unemployment or out of the labor force. There are marked differences in the profiles of transitioning and non-transitioning workers, both in terms of socioeconomic characteristics and social security coverage. Causal analysis shows that affiliation to social security on health deters occupational transitions, while pension insurance does not. Hence, high-volume transitions may not be crisis-specific phenomena, but rather associated with contributive and non-contributive social security mechanisms that incentivize informality, and workers' preferences for informal jobs. The debate on labor market and social security reforms needs to take these features of transitions into account.Publication The Impact of Lifetime Events on Pensions(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-04)The paper focuses on the interrupted careers in four countries where pensions are based on lifetime labor income, but they have different labor market patterns. High levels of employment in Germany and Sweden are in contrast with low levels of employment, particularly for women, in Italy and Poland. Career interruptions of women in Italy mean early withdrawal from the labor market, while in Sweden women choose part-time employment. Lower employment rates and gender pay gaps are important causes of differences in expected pension levels. The pension system design and demographics are also different. Prolonging working lives and reducing gender gaps in employment and pay, particularly for those at risk of interrupted careers, is key to ensure decent old-age pensionsPublication Findings from the 2014 Labor Force Survey in Sierra Leone(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-03-14)The 2014 Labor Force Survey report seeks to contribute to solutions to the jobs challenge in Sierra Leone through a foundational analysis of the country’s first dedicated labor survey in nearly three decades. The report provides an overview of the employment situation in Sierra Leone, ranging from labor force participation to the types of employment among the working-age population. Through analysis of specialized modules, the report sheds light on key constraints to self-employment in agricultural activities and non-farm household enterprises, which are, respectively, the first- and second-largest sources of jobs in the economy. It also highlights the extent of informality in both wage employment and non-farm self-employment as well as how an individual’s status in the labor market relates to income poverty. The report also presents information on skills levels and how basic skills are acquired by the working age population. Finally, the report discusses issues related to youth employment and the specific constraints faced by youth in gaining access to productive job opportunities.